This is an interesting take on the concept of a (very brief) bestiary and a good intro to kosher rules, especially if you've got no clue how those operate. What it lacks is substance and consistency. It does still feel like something you'd find on a blog, and while some of the descriptions and conversations are interesting, others seem lazy.That's basically the thing. I love the idea of the book and I loved some parts of it, but it's lazy. Like they couldn't be bothered coming up with a genuinel...

A light, puffy souffle of a book that describes various imaginary animals, like Leviathan, or the chupacabra, or Ouroboros, and considers the question of whether or not they would be considered kosher. The dialogue between Ann VanderMeer and Evil Monkey is hilarious, and can be savored slowly, one imaginary animal at a time or gulped down in one fell swoop.

The authors begin with, "Is a unicorn kosher?" and never refer to the unicorn again. I believe it is NOT kosher, no cloven hooves and it does not chew the cud. At the end of the book Duff Goldman drops in to discuss recipes (recipes? For sand worms? For Cuthulu?)and the discussion turns to whether Wookies are kosher. The authors and Diff vote yes (with no grounds given) I say no. Wookies are bipedal, intelligent, mammals. Again, no cloven hooves and no cud chewing. Aside from those few quibbles,...

An intriguing premise, but it completely fails to live up to it. The descriptions of the mythical creatures are very short and lacking in detail, so as a book about mythical creatures it falls severely short, but the discussion following each falls even shorter.The authors banter feels forced and overly cutesy, which is not helped by the stupid gimmick of one of them pretending to be an evil monkey - LOL so random! And given that there are some fairly basic and broad rules as to what animals are...

unfortunately.....this is hardly even a book. such a fun and interesting idea, but I think it’s entirely too clear that this was basically just lifted directly from (a? some?) blog post[s]. cool premise, not great execution. I should have believed the low average rating. rip!

I've read several books that tackled mythological creatures in an encyclopedic format, and usually they use the same descriptions for the usual selections (e.g. mermaid, Big Foot). But the one thing this book introduced to me is the Jewish concept of "kosher," and being the kind of person who loves learning new things, that and the dialogue between the co-authors intrigued me. Overall, The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals is a fun and light read, though confusing at some parts due to the techni...

Meh.Yet another bunch of blogposts disguised as a giftie-book. I chuckled once or twice, but there's really not much here. Kind of like those cheap prawns you buy that haven't got much inside the shell. You work for 20 minutes and end up still hungry. I have no desire to search online to find out who these people are.For non-readers and social media addicts only. (Basically the same group of people, now that I think about it.)

So you are cooking a banshee stew for dinner, and you suddently realize one of your guests is a Jew. Can you serve him your delightfully cookied mythical creature?The premise seemed so amusing.But I'm afraid the book itself did not live up to it.Some of the descriptions meant to be funny, and I think that even two of them made me smile.But the dialogs on the kosherness of each animal are just too obvious -and much less silly or surprising or funny than I had expected. Probably the best part of t...

Reads as the collection of blog posts it originally was.Compared to the other books of Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, this book feels rushed and lacking in depth. Somewhat funny, but not much substance. The different entries are all based on the same jokes.

I got this a part of a book bundle. It's just a silly little book, pretty darn short as far as I could tell from the ebook, but cute, and actually informative if you're into mythology. They covered quite a few mythological beasties that I'd never heard of, and I've read a lot of books about mythology and a lot of authors who've been including somewhat more obscure mythology in their books, like Ilona Andrews and Kevin Hearne just to name two. So it was actually a treat to be introduced to so man...

An odd book, this seems to have grown out of a jokey discussion between Ann and Jeff Vandermeer about the potential Kosherness of fictional beasts. The problem is, it doesn't seem to have grown very much; each entry is a page or a little more and there isn't enough in the description of the animal to server as a bestiary nor enough in the few lines of discussion that follow the either flesh out the ideas, give much in the way of Jewish dietary philosophy or even provide much humour.A little bit

If you are looking for a fun diversion from our current reality, curl up with some imaginary halachic dispute and giggles. The banter between Ann and Jeff is by far the best part of this short collection of mythical creatures.

Whimsy. Pure and true.

Have you ever wondered whether mythical creatures are part of a kosher diet? The VanderMeers have, and they answer that very question in this book. Including a brief description of each imaginary animal, followed by commentary discussing whether the critter is kosher, this guide provides a comical journey as the authors explore a variety of creatures. My only disappointment was that they skipped many of the well-known animals that I would have expected to see included. I purchased this ebook in

For the Jewish gastronaut who feels ready to explore less readily available meats, but is worried about their Kosher status, this is the perfect read. Presented as a series of short, but humorous, debates between ANN (the explanatory voice of Kosher rules played by Ann VanderMeer) and EVIL MONKEY (the questioning voice of the confused non-Jew played by Jeff VanderMeer). Each dialogue ends with the stamp of Kosher or non-Kosher (or more common than is actually helpful Unknown Kosherness) status.

The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals is a handy, pocket sized booklet that lists and describes a variety of imaginary animals from around the world and provides a verdict as to the creature’s kosher status. The animal’s kosher status is provided after a brief dialogue between Ann and Evil Monkey (Jeff Vandermeer’ blogging alter go) in which they consider the different aspects of each creature that would qualify or disqualify it from being kosher.The creatures listed range from the Japanese Abum...

Hilarious and informative. Fun reading with sharp detail with people that actually understate and studied the term they use.

Food fascinates Jews. Nearly every holiday and celebration centers around food (or in the case of Yom Kippur, the absence thereof). The stereotypical Jewish mother constantly tries to get her children to eat. Even in the afterlife, Jews are promised a succulent banquet of Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz, all three created for just this feast. This fixation exists even though (or perhaps because) Jewish Law dictates fairly stringent dietary restrictions: Pork, shellfish, anything that eats other ani...

Thanks to this very insightful guide, I finally found out the true meaning (and looks) of such symbolic mythical figures as Leviathan, Behemoth, and Ziz. I also grasped the nature of the intimate relationship between these three, not forgetting an even more intimate connection to Jews which the beasts happen to share. What's more important, I know when they are going to be served for dinner, and under what sauce. I even know what wine compliments them best. How's that?This recipe book of amazing...

This is an indispensable book if you're Jewish and planning on eating some kind of imaginary creature. Even if you won't find it in these pages (the book is quite slim after all), you will acquire the knowledge of the basic guidelines, which should allow you to decide if the thing you're about to eat is kosher on the spot (maybe after a few minutes of deliberation and/or questions directed at the creature).If you're not Jewish – or if you don't eat meat – it might still be worth reading because